Hungarian army receive 12 MRAP armoured vehicles MaxxPro Plus from United States 0912135

The Hungarian Defence Forces were lent 12 Mine-Resistant
Ambush Protected (MRAP) MaxxPro Plus armoured fighting vehicles
for training purposes by the US Forces European Command. The vehicles
were taken over by the Minister of Defence of Hungary from the Chargé
d'Affaires, a.i. of the US Embassy in Budapest on Tuesday, 26th November.

At the ceremony,
combined with a capability-demonstration at the Bakony Combat Training
Centre in Hajmáskér Mr Hende said: due to the significant
deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan in 2010 the most
modern assets capable to provide service members with the highest level
of survivability had been requested from the USA government. In the
areas of operations Hungarian military personnel have been using similar
vehicles for years and such assets have greatly contributed to the minimisation
of losses, he added.

The Minister of
Defence highlighted that the use of vehicles required high-level skills
which made it necessary to have another 12 AFVs allowing Hungarian personnel
to receive training in this field in Hungary.

According to the handouts the transportation of the 12 fighting vehicles
to Hungary and their repair costs are covered by the American party
while the operation are the responsibility of the HDF. The vehicles
will be used both at the Bakony Combat Training Centre and the Szentendre
NCO Academy. The weight of the MaxxPro
Plus MRAPs, manufactured by Navistar International, is
17 metric tons. Thanks to the special armour plates at the bottom of
the hull these vehicles are able to survive a blast of as much as seven
kilograms of high explosive material.